Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer who recorded eighteen Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owned the Moon River Theatre[3] in Branson, Missouri, named after the song "Moon River", with which he is closely identified.
During the 1960s, Williams became one of the most popular vocalists in the country and was signed to what was at that time the biggest recording contract in history. He was primarily an album artist, and at one time he had earned more gold albums than any solo performer except Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Elvis Presley.
By 1973 he had earned as many as 18 gold album awards. Among his hit albums from this period were Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses (number one for 16 weeks in mid-1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Dear Heart, The Shadow of Your Smile, Love, Andy, Get Together with Andy Williams, and Love Story. These recordings, along with his natural affinity for the music of the 1960s and early 1970s, combined to make him one of the premier easy listening singers of that era.
In the UK, Williams continued to reach high chart status until 1978. The albums Can't Help Falling In Love (1970), Andy Williams Show (1970) Home Lovin Man ( #1 1971), Solitaire (1973), The Way We Were (1974) and Reflections (1978) all reached the Top 10.
Williams forged an indirect collaborative relationship with Henry Mancini, although they never recorded together. Williams was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer's song "Moon River" at the 1962 Oscar Awards (where it won), and it quickly became Williams' theme song; however, because it was never released as a single, "Moon River" was never actually a chart hit for Williams.
The next year Williams sang "Days of Wine and Roses" which was written by Mancini and Mercer (this song also won). Two years later, he sang Mancini's "Dear Heart" at the 1965 awards and "The Sweetheart Tree" (also written with Mercer) at the 1966 awards.
As you skate around the dial, have you ever asked yourself "where are the high energy jocks that used to get you fired up?" The guys that always seemed to be having a great time and thus made you have a good time? The guys that seemed to actually "feel" the music and sounded as if they wanted to be there? For the next few posts we will look at those jocks that brought radio ALIVE. As our first offering...JoJo "Cooking" Kincad.
Working hard and having a ball. Radio....the way I wish it still was.
Previous installments of "Radio Legends" have looked at both local and national voices. From the Carolinas to Chicago, to California the contributions made over the decades are the baseline for most, if not all of what occurs on the air today. If you have a personality you would like us to profile, please drop us line. Don Steele, born Donald Steele Revert (April 1, 1936 – August 5, 1997), was one of the most popular disc jockeys in the United States, from the middle of the 1960s until his retirement (for health reasons) in May 1997. He was known as "The Real Don Steele," a name given to him by his program director in Omaha, Nebraska, who hoped the moniker would click with listeners and make him stand out from other radio personalities.
Steele became nationally-known as a DJ on radio station KHJ in Los Angeles, where he helped to promote the "ultrahip" top-40 Boss Radio format which began on April 27, 1965.
He also appeared on TV as host Boss City and The Real Don Steele TV Show, a show which ran from 1965 to 1975 on KHJ-TV channel 9 in Los Angeles.
When the popularity of AM radio gave way to FM stereo in the 1970s, Steele continued to remain a popular personality at the station. Following the years at 93/KHJ, The Real Don Steele continued to be heard on Los Angeles radio stations, including KIQQ (K-100),
KRLA, KCBS-FM and KRTH-FM (K-Earth 101), until his death in August 1997.
In the book Los Angeles Radio People, Steele recalled the beginnings of Boss Radio in 1965: "We were standing literally at ground zero, then (the radio format) became a huge giant. It was like a mushroom cloud that went up -- heavy on the mushroom." Steele was never one to analyze the evolution of rock radio. In a 1995 interview, he insisted, "Look, you take the Motown sound and the British Invasion and you throw in Elvis and Roy Orbison, and you have a music mix that's hard to beat at any time or any place." "Robert W. Morgan was the first one hired for Boss Radio," KHJ program director Bill Drake said. "He recommended Steele. He flew down from San Francisco. I was a little leery because I had heard he was kind of a crazy man, but it turned out he was very dedicated to his work."
Steel had a unique delivery that may sound out of place in today's, vanilla on-air sound. Back then the personality was the difference. The songs may have been the same.....but what happened between the tunes was what made radio, well, entertaining.
The French magazine Closer, which published topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge, must hand over the original pictures and pay a 10,000-euro ($13,000) fine each time the images are published again, a French court ruled.
Judge Jean- Michel Hayat said in the ruling today in Nanterre, France the duchess, Kate, and husband Prince William had a legitimate expectation of privacy when the photos were taken during their vacation because they were “surrounded by gardens and several hundred meters from a public road,”
The tabloid was ordered to pay Kate 2,000 euros in expenses and an additional 10,000 euros each day it fails to turn over the images.
The royal family has also asked for a criminal case to be started against the unidentified photographer.
The dispute comes three weeks after News Corp.Sun tabloid in Britain broke with traditional practice by publishing images of Prince Harry, William’s brother, naked at a party in Las Vegas. Those photos, initially published online by the U.S. website TMZ.com, may have inspired Closer.
The princes’ mother, Diana Princess of Wales, died in a Paris car crash 15 years ago while being pursued by French tabloid paparazzi on motorbikes.
Several days ago we profiled Monty Dupuy, an Upstate South Carolina radio legend. In this edition we take a quick look an the Midlands Madman.....Hunter Herring. Hunter is a longtime Columbia/Charlotte radio personality
who has spent his 44 year career at great radio stations like WCOS, WNOK, WZLD,
WEZC, WMIX, WWMG, and WOMG. I first ran across him when I was programming an AM stick in Gaffney, SC as well as another pair in Beaufort - Hilton Head & Allendale. Yes....back in the AM days of Top 40 radio. (sigh)
He was a machine gun on air personality on WCOS and seemed to catch the Capitol City on fire each and every day. His career in broadcasting has given him experience in music
formats ranging from beach to boogie, rock to disco, and top 40 to country.
Here is some bio info on radio veteran Hunter Herring
Favorite Sport: Football
Favorite Movie: Pet Detective / Dumb and Dumber /Naked Gun
Favorite Drink: Margarita on the rocks w/salt
Favorite Music: All Music All Genres
Birthday: February 28
On air at WOMG:
Since: August, 1990
High School: Dreher,
Columbia
First big break in radio: WCOS in Columbia
Nicest celebrity I've ever met: Alice Cooper
Biggest influence: Boss Radio of the 60's
Favorite weekend activity: Hanging By The Pool
Favorite Beatle: George
Favorite sandwich: Turkey Club and New Orleans Shrimp Po Boy
Favorite book: Rockin’ America by Rick Sklar
Deceased person I wish I'd met: Johnny Carson
Fun Fact about Hunter: Holds Columbia’s On Air Marathon
Record...1974 Heart Fund Radiothon...73 Hrs
One of the things he and I have in common, is our love and respect for Boss Radio, its creator the late Bill Drake, and many of the jocks who found fame within the format. Since that time there have been many variations of the "Drake"sound and the jingles he employed at KHJ were no execption.
Giants were born in the Boss Radio days..... notable among them Robert W. Morgan. Here is profiled on KABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News in 1999. Then there was Charlie Tuna.
KHTZ K-Hits Los Angeles Charlie Tuna 1985 California
Aircheck Video
KRLA Los Angeles Humble Harve 1990 California Aircheck Video. He is still rockin the Midlands and hopefully Hunter will continue for many years to come. Robyn Watts was kind enough to add to a prior post and as always, we encourage your comments and suggestions.
A few month ago legendary rock band The Who announced a 37 city tour including Greenvillle, SC.
The stop at the Bi-Lo Center is the first time the band has ever appeared in South Carolina. The date is November 8th and to say the buzz is strong would be an understatement.
Local classic rock station WROQ-FM (Rock101) announced the tour, the performance in Greenville, and offered tickets to listeners. We hear response was strong, and demand for tickets continues to be equally strong.
Here is a interview that answers some of the burning qustions regarding
this tour...such as "why now"?
Guitarist Mark Abrahamian, who performed with Starship featuring Mickey Thomas, is dead at age 46, the band announced on Monday. He reportedly died due to a heart attack following a performance on September 2.
